£9000 Excavator Plunges 120 ft Into Shotover River

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29265, 25 July 1960, Page 17

£9000 Excavator Plunges 120 ft Into Shotover River

(Neto Zealand Press Association)

July 24. The driver of a 15-ton excavator jumped from the cab as the machine crashed over a 120 ft bank into the Shotover river at Arthur’s point at 8.45 a.m. on Saturday. The excavator, the property of McKenzie Contracting, Ltd., of Taramoa. and valued at approximately £9OOO, was driven by the owner, Mr G. A. McKenzie. The excavator went out of control on the Queenstown side of the Edith Cavell bridge at Arthur’s point Mr McKenzie was travelling towards Arrowtown. When the vehicle began its downward slide, Mr McKenzie, realising that he could not save the machine, leaped for safety.

But as he jumped, his overalls became entangled with the seat, and he struggled frantically before he was able to free himself and leap. He was hot injured. He landed safely on the ground and watched as the excavator was dashed on the rocks below before coming to rest in the shallow water of the river. Mr McKenzie said tonight that he thought he had about 20 seconds to leap to safety from the time the vehicle got out of control. It is thought the excavator’s hydraulic system burst. Oil was found on the ground where the machine left the road. The machine was extensively damaged. Whether it can be repaired will not be known until it is salvaged.